Variety Magazine: Digital divides d.p.'s in roles, pay

Post-production pay goes to proven vets but others forced to work for free or sit on sidelines by Peter Caranicas

Cinematographers sometimes work for no pay.As post-production of films has shifted from photochemical processing to image manipulation in the digital intermediate (DI) suite, d.p.'s have been devoting growing chunks of time to post-production. The problem is, their compensation hasn't always kept up with the extra hours.

One d.p. found himself sitting in a digital suite twice this past year, helping out with post on films he'd recently shot.

"Everyone else in the room was being paid and I wasn't," he said. "The editor, the colorist, the post supervisor -- everyone except me."

The d.p. spoke anonymously for fear of being "considered a complainer and casting aspersions on the producers I've worked with," but his plight is common among d.p.'s these days.